Public Meeting About Contamination at McDonald's Site
Lea School, 47th & Locust, August 15th 7PM
*Premeeting Press Conference at 6:30PM*

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA Neighbors at 43rd and Market in
West Philadelphia have anxiously been awaiting this
week's public meeting about the cleanup of a
McDonald's construction site at 43rd and Market. After
months of protests and visits to various officials,
the West Philly community group Neighbors Against
McPenntrification has finally obtained a 28 page
packet partial soil report and other correspondence
from the City Solicitor. Intercultural Family
Services, which has offices near the site, has since
received a 98 page packet of documentation through
their lawyer. 450 tons of contaminated soil was
removed from the site with no notification given to
the neighbors. The dust covered the street and the
insides of residents' homes. The surrounding community
was exposed to elevated levels of chromium, cadmium,
copper, zinc, hydrocarbons, baryllium, lead, and
tetrachloroethylene. At least one neighbor is moving
away after enduring hair loss and respiratory
problems. "Only God and my family know what McDonalds,
the City, and the DEP have put us through," says Rev.
Larry Falcon whose backyard was demolished to make way
for the McDonalds.

Many in the neighborhood are concerned about how this
meeting will be run and if they will be able to find
answers to our concerns. Many concerned residents who
feel that they have been shut out of planning the
meeting will be having a press conference at 6:30
outside the meeting to insure that they have a real
chance to speak about the issue. "This meeting is an
attempt to relieve McDonalds of its legal
responsibility to the neighborhood it devastated,"
says Hannah Virginia of the group Neighbors Against
McPenntrification, "We do not recognize this meeting
as a legal forum as there is no room for negotiation
or for our voices to be heard."

Neighbors were already upset that the McDonalds was
going up despite residential opposition when a city
worker casually told one block resident that the
truckloads of soil that crews had been removing from
the site were contaminated. Construction and soil
removal has caused dust from the contaminated site to
fill residents' homes. The contamination was confirmed
later by a public notice printed in the University
City Review about McDonaldís application to the State
Department of Environmental Protection (Debra Fries
610.832.6020) for a liability waiver. Residents have
succeeded in getting the city to request a public
meeting about the site clean up that will take place
on Wednesday, August 15th at the Lea School at 47th
and Locust. The meeting is being coordinated by Mr.
Can-Tu Hertzler in the City Solicitor's office,
215.683.5061, and McDonalds Project Manager Scott
Lang, 610.688 8010.

According to the US Agency for Toxic Substances,
"Exposure to very high concentrations of
tetrachloroethylene can cause dizziness, headaches,
sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking
and walking, and unconsciousness. Tetrachloroethylene
has been found in at least 771 of the 1,430 National
Priorities List sites identified by the EPA."

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